Thief Emperor

Chapter 1146 Admitting Mistakes
He Man bowed to Chen Da and said, "General, I will set off immediately for Jinling to meet the Emperor. If anything happens to me on this trip..."

He bowed his head and said, "For the sake of our friendship over the years, please, General, take care of my family!"

Chen Da patted him on the shoulder and shook his head, saying, "It's not like you made a mistake yourself. Given His Majesty's temperament, he'll probably just reprimand you and demote you by one or two ranks at most. There won't be any major problems."

"You don't need to worry too much."

He Man lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "The Chief Justice is also in Jinling."

Chen Da frowned and said, "You've served the Duke of England for so many years, he'll speak up for you. Don't worry, nothing serious will happen."

He stood up and said, "Since His Majesty has given the order, let's split up. You go to Jinling, and I'll set off immediately to the northwest front to oversee the battle."

He Man nodded and said, "Now that things have come to this, General, even if you arrive in the Northwest, don't immediately take over military power. You can first observe His Majesty's attitude..."

"It is not necessarily the case that the King of Qin's military power must be taken away."

Chen nodded: "I know what I'm doing."

He Man bowed his head and said, "Then this humble servant will set off for Jinling immediately. The situation in the Northwest and Guanzhong is still important. I entrust it to the General."

After saying that, he took a few steps back, took a deep breath, and strode away.

When He Man arrived at the gate of the Chen residence, the Guanzhong Commandery had already prepared a horse for him. Without hesitation, He Man immediately mounted the horse and galloped all the way to Chang'an, heading towards Jinling City, which was two thousand miles away.

Chen Da sat silently in his chair for a long time, but did not rush to set off for the Northwest.

At dawn the next day, he first arranged all matters concerning the garrison in Chang'an, and then set off for Lingzhou with his personal guards.

It was three days later when he arrived in Lingzhou. By then, the Tang army had already captured the city.

Lingzhou was the epicenter of this Northwest rebellion. The capture of Lingzhou meant that the suppression of the rebellion was effectively coming to an end.

It must be said that this suppression of the rebellion was extremely clean and efficient.

From leading his troops into Shuofang territory to capturing Lingzhou City, His Highness the Prince of Qin took less than twenty days in total.

Meanwhile, blood was everywhere in Lingzhou City.

After entering Lingzhou, Chen Da couldn't help but frown.

Nearby was He Jun, the deputy general who had led the suppression of the rebellion. He saw Chen Da's expression and bowed his head, saying, "His Highness the Prince of Qin has ordered that all Hu people in Lingzhou City be executed on the wheels of a cart."

General Chen took a deep breath, turned to look at He Jun, and asked, "Where is His Highness Prince Qin?"

"A small number of rebellious Hu people fled westward, and His Highness the Prince led troops to pursue them. He should be back in four or five days."

He Jun paused for a moment, then continued, "This suppression of the rebellion was quite swift and decisive. It is estimated that it will be completely quelled in about ten days. Moreover, the Hu people in the Northwest suffered a great loss this time, and it will be difficult for them to rebel again for at least the next twenty years."

"If another rebellion breaks out, they will think back to this day."

Chen Da turned to look at He Jun and asked, "The massacre of the First City could deter the enemy, so why did so many people kill in Lingzhou City?"

"Because Lingzhou never surrendered."

He Jun replied, "His Highness the Prince of Qin said that we must be ruthless in dealing with these barbarians, otherwise they will not know fear. If they dare not open the city gates and surrender, we must slaughter them severely."

"That way, they'll know to be afraid from now on."

"When the imperial army arrives, these barbarians will surrender at the mere mention of it."

Upon hearing this, General Chen remained silent for a long time without saying a word.

He had originally thought that His Highness the Prince of Qin was the most like the emperor among the imperial heirs, but now it seemed that he was only somewhat similar on the surface, and not at all like the emperor in essence.

His Highness the King of Qin is sharp, ruthless, and domineering.

While His Majesty is more ruthless, he relies more on the principles of benevolent rule.

His Highness the King of Qin wanted to subdue the foreign tribes with his authority, while His Majesty the Emperor wanted the people's hearts to be won over.

He Jun hesitated for a moment before speaking, "General, your sudden arrival here, is it because of His Majesty...?"

Chen Da turned his head slightly, glanced at him, and asked, "What do you think?"

He Jun thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "The Northwest was the original homeland of the Shuofang Army. After the Shuofang Army surrendered, in the fourth year of Zhangwu, Wei Quanzhong's son rebelled once, but was quelled by the court. Now that he has rebelled again, it shows that the Northwest is the place where heavy troops are needed."

"This humble servant believes that Your Highness's method of using troops, though somewhat ruthless, is effective."

“If we fight step by step, the Northwest rebellion will last at least half a year, and the local nomadic people may not learn their lesson.”

"The suppression of the rebellion in the Northwest is no longer a major problem."

General Chen, with his hands behind his back, looked at the devastated city of Lingzhou and sighed: "The problem is, after this battle, it's hard to say whether the Hu people will be subdued or the hatred will linger."

He paused, then continued, "If we can't wipe them out completely, in a few years, the Western Regions, which I've worked so hard for for so many years, will probably be in constant trouble. At that time, we'll only be able to rely on the Prince Su's mansion to quell the rebellion."

"By the way," he looked at He Jun and asked, "Where is His Highness Prince Su?"

"We followed His Highness the King of Qin to pursue the remaining enemies."

He Jun said in a low voice, "His Highness the Prince of Qin said that since it has already been done, we must eliminate them completely and not leave any hidden dangers for the court."

"Therefore, His Highness the King of Qin has been pursuing and killing the remaining enemies who have fled recently."

He Jun said in a low voice, "General, I think we should speak well of His Highness to His Majesty. His Majesty is good in every way, except that he is sometimes a little soft-hearted."

Chen Da closed his eyes, and after a while he opened them. He looked at Lingzhou City in front of him and murmured, "Lingzhou has become like this. Even if His Majesty wanted to be soft-hearted in the future, he would not be able to be soft-hearted. His Majesty has always been very practical in his actions."

He Jun was taken aback, but then he understood what Chen Da meant.

If His Majesty were to personally lead the troops, he would not fight in this manner. However, since the Prince of Qin has already fought in this way, His Majesty will take appropriate measures to clean up the mess afterward.

After saying this, Chen Da looked at He Jun and said, "After this matter, I will return to Luoyang. From now on, it is highly likely that you will take over as General of Chang'an and guard Guanzhong."

Be very careful.

He Jun was stunned: "What does the General want me to be careful about?"

Chen Da shook his head without saying anything, but patted He Jun on the shoulder.

"No more, no more."

"I've come all this way, do you have any wine?"

He Jun shook his head: "It is wartime now, and drinking is not allowed in the army."

"His Highness the King of Qin is very strict."

“Some of the older brothers in the army were punished by him.”

General Chen was speechless and said, "Even with the fighting going on like this, is it still wartime?"

"How about this, I'll treat you to some wine."

He Jun then smiled and said, "Then this humble servant has no choice but to obey."

In the end, Chen Da neither produced the emperor's edict nor took over military power in the Northwest.

He simply arrived at the scene, observed the situation, and then silently waited in Lingzhou for His Highness the Prince of Qin to return with his troops.

Meanwhile, He Man, the head of the Guanzhong Department, who had been traveling day and night, had arrived in Jinling. Upon arriving in Jinling, he did not go to the palace to meet the emperor immediately, but instead found the Nine Departments of Jinling and located the residence of the Duke of Ying.

Upon seeing the Duke of England, He Man knelt down with a thud, bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "Minister!"

It was already evening. Liu Bo was looking through some intelligence on the Wugu tribe of Liaodong Road. After a while, he glanced at He Man and sighed, "We've been brothers for years, why are you kneeling?"

He Man stood up, bowed his head and smiled bitterly: "Minister Si, His Majesty urgently ordered me to come here, and I knew I had made a mistake."

Liu Bo remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I am in charge of the Nine Divisions. If there is any mistake, my mistake is definitely greater than yours."

As he spoke, he glanced at He Man.

He Sizheng, who was already in his forties or fifties, had bloodshot eyes and looked extremely haggard.

"Haven't you slept for the past few days?"

He Man said with a wry smile, "In less than four days, we covered two thousand miles."

"There's really no time to sleep."

"Then you can stay here with me tonight and get a good night's sleep."

"Tomorrow, I will take you to see His Majesty."

Hearing this, He Man was overjoyed.

With his boss by his side, he felt much more at ease.

"I obey my orders."

Liu Bo helped him up, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Remember, say whatever comes to mind tomorrow, and answer whatever they ask."

"If you are wrong, you should admit it."

He Man lowered his head.

"My subordinate understands!"

(End of this chapter)